


boys will be bugs

by soldierpoetprince



Series: Dream SMP Oneshots [2]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Animal Crossing References, Bonding, Family Dynamics, Fluff, Found Family, He/They pronouns for Sam, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Sam Nook - Freeform, Sam and Puffy adopt Tommy without him realizing basically, TheraPuffy, They just want him to have a chance to be a normal kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-17 14:22:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29101698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soldierpoetprince/pseuds/soldierpoetprince
Summary: Puffy has been wanting to help Tommy in any way she can. Sam finally gives her an in, as unorthodox as it may be.
Relationships: Cara | CaptainPuffy & TommyInnit, Sam | Awesamdude & Cara | CaptainPuffy, Sam | Awesamdude & Cara | CaptainPuffy & TommyInnit, Sam | Awesamdude & TommyInnit
Series: Dream SMP Oneshots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2123391
Comments: 53
Kudos: 852
Collections: Cheshire's MCYT recs!





	boys will be bugs

**Author's Note:**

> personally i think sam and puffy should just adopt tommy officially. it's what he deserves

When Puffy hops down into the spider spawner at nearly midnight, the last thing she expects to see is Sam, hacking tirelessly at the trapped spiders with a basket of hardhats, safety vests, and work boots besides him. It takes her a second for the scene to kick in, having to stifle a laugh as she steps aside to lean against the bookshelves behind her, waiting for the other to finish. He pulls back after a minute or so, shoulders slumping in exhaustion as he pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket, carefully wiping away the goo and spider remains from his sword. 

She lets them go as far as to put their sword down before pushing herself away from the wall, smiling as she waves out a greeting. “Hey, Sam! A bit late, isn’t it?” She’s unable to muffle her laugh this time as the man in front of her all but jumps, spinning around with a haste she didn’t expect from him at this hour, one hand clutched around his sword handle and the other on the hoodie fabric over his heart. 

“P-Puffy! Don’t do that! I could’ve seriously hurt you!” he reprimands, but she can barely hear it over the sound of her own laughter, echoing loud and clear in the small chamber. It takes Sam a second, but after realizing everything’s okay, they let out a few chuckles of their own, shaking their head with a smile. “What are you doing here at this hour, anyways?”

“I could say the same for you,” she responds, nodding to the equipment by his feet. “Don’t you have a prison to be warding? You should get some sleep.” 

Sam, at the least, has the sense to look sheepish, rubbing the back of their neck as they let out a soft laugh. “Maybe. But, well, Tommy’s hard hat is close to breaking, and I can’t just let him wander around the build site without one. Not to mention Tubbo keeps  _ losing  _ all his equipment, so I need to make sure to keep a few extra sets in case he comes around. So,” he laughs again, lightly tapping the toe of his boot against the box, “I’m making sure everything’s properly enchanted for when they come by tomorrow.”

Puffy pases. She’s seen Tommy running around, nearly impossible to miss with his neon-orange safety vest and bright yellow hard hat, and she’s seen the construction zone, all walled off and mob-protected, but she hadn’t realized it was  _ Sam  _ that was behind it all. She doubted Tommy was building it all himself, of course, since it definitely wasn’t his style, but she expected someone like Phil or Tubbo to be behind it. Sam is . . . surprising. Not in the building aspect—no, she’s more than aware of what he’s capable of—but more in the sense that she hadn’t expected  _ them  _ of all people to be able to wrangle the boy. The only people she’d ever seen be able to do it previously had been his family, plus Tubbo and occasionally Niki. How did Sam manage?

“Oh,” her brain unhelpfully supplies, shrouding them in an awkward silence. She taps her fingers against the hilt of her sword, thinking, before finally adding, “. . . Do you want any help?”

It’s not need. She’s aware Sam could handle this himself, and that his diligence and pride over his work would probably lead him to, but she also knows how comforting having someone to fall back on is. Besides, she can’t fully say that it’s a selfless suggestion. She’s been wanting to help Tommy—help  _ all  _ of them, really—ever since she saw the war-torn look in his eyes when he returned from exile, but she’s never had the proper bridge to him, always blocked by one of the boy’s many walls. 

Sam seems to understand, shoulders slumping after a second of deliberation, a crooked smile gracing their features. With a small gesture, he beckons Puffy over, amicably discussing the building plans as he stabs into another array of spiders, going over their safety precautions and guidelines. She takes in every word eagerly, relieved for the in she’s finally been given. She doesn’t know when she starts helping Sam enchant things, but she does, wandering between the enchantment area and supply box periodically, double-checking for proper enchantments and stepping in when one of them mess up. They fall into an almost rhythm, bouncing off each other with ease she wouldn’t expect for such a late hour, swapping ideas alongside soft small talk about the good things that have been going on in the server, as rare and far-in-between as they may be. 

It’s about an hour or two in when Sam first brings up Sam Nook, making Puffy stop in her tracks. She wants to laugh, assuming it to be a joke, but something about Sam’s body language tells her it  _ isn’t _ . More importantly, it tells her that it’s something important to Tommy, so she stays quiet and listens.

“It’s from that game he’s always going on about—Animal Crossing, I think? Tubbo was telling me about it when we were working on the guardian farm. I looked into it afterwards, and honestly, it’s pretty cute. Not what you’d expect Tommy’s game of choice to be, but I think that’s the point.” Sam shrugs, smiling warmly. “It’s more what he needs than what he strives for. So I modeled a character after one of the game’s NPCs. I’m trying to keep up the facade of Sam Nook and me being two completely different beings, though, so don’t tell Tommy that.” 

As funny as the thought of Tommy believing Sam Nook to be a completely different person to Sam may be, it strikes Puffy with a sudden sadness. Tommy never  _ had  _ something like that before. He never got the chance to believe in Santa Claus, or the Tooth Fairy, presents coming in forms of weapons and baby teeth falling out during fist-fights and warfare. This might very well be the first time he’s been given the chance to truly  _ believe  _ in something without consequence. The thought only fuels Puffy further as she asks Sam if there are any other NPCs up for play, and most importantly, if she should search through her wardrobe to look the part.

She’s sure the face-splitting smile that graces Sam’s face must match her own.

. . .

The next time Tommy shows up at the building site, Puffy is standing by Sam’s side, dressed in a fluffy sweater and skirt underneath her safety gear. She’s tied her hair up into twin pigtails, dual bells strung around red hair ties. As awkward as she feels out of her captain’s hat and jacket, it’s all worth it for the look of absolute awe and childish glee on Tommy’s face as he rushes through the gates of the perimeter. 

“Puffy? Why’re you dressed all weird?” Despite knowing he doesn’t mean anything by it, Puffy can’t help but huff, clutching her clipboard a bit tighter to her body. 

Tommy’s communicator beeps, and he hurries to pull it out of his pocket. It keeps beeping as he reads Sam’s message, sounding vaguely like text. She still doesn’t understand that part, even after Sam’s lengthy explanation last night, but the bounce in Tommy’s step makes her realize she doesn’t need to. This isn’t for her. 

_ WELCOME, TOMMY INNIT . . . I HAVE A NEW HELPER ON SITE TODAY . . . THIS IS PUFFYBELLE . . . SHE WILL BE HELPING YOU WITH YOUR TASKS . . .  _

Puffy offers a polite smile as Tommy’s head snaps up from his communicator, holding a hand out in greeting. As surreptitiously as she can, she uses her other hand to type on the screen Sam had provided on her clipboard, which directly links to her own communication device. ( _ She doesn’t think about the fact that Sam had one already prepared. She does, however, think about the image of Sam in an Isabelle cosplay, all intimidating mask and cute sweater vest. _ )

_ HELLO, TOMMY INNIT . . . IT IS NICE TO MEET YOU . . . I HOPE TO BE ABLE TO WORK WITH YOU IN THE FUTURE . . .  _

It takes Tommy a second to react, communicator beeps fading into nothing as he looks from her, to Sam, then back to her. Puffy momentarily worries that it’s too much too soon, that they’re not in this part of their relationship, that he’ll take it as them thinking less of him, but that all goes away the second his face breaks out into the biggest grin Puffy’s ever seen from him, hand eagerly reaching out to shake hers. Tommy’s hands are scarred, thin lines stretched across pale skin from years of combat and training. Puffy’s not free of scars of her own, some from adventuring, others from mishaps on shipwork, but the knowledge that Tommy’s must’ve all come from battles he was far too young to partake in sits heavy in her stomach.

“She better be able to keep up! I can’t have any slackers working under  _ my  _ hotel!” Tommy says after he releases her hand, turning to look at Sam with a puffed-out chest. That’s enough for her to clear up her thoughts, too busy struggling to hold back her laughter. The past is in the past. Her job isn’t to try to fix that, not now. Her job is to make sure it never happens again, and it’s one she’s determined not to fail.

_ OF COURSE . . . REST ASSURED, PUFFYBELLE IS ONE OF OUR BEST WORKERS . . . SHE WILL BE USEFUL ON YOUR QUEST . . . _

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. What do I need to get today, big man?”

_ THE HOTEL WILL NEED DECORATION TO DRAW IN GUESTS . . . I WILL NEED AT LEAST A STACK OF OAK LEAVES . . . ALONGSIDE AS MANY FLOWERS YOU CAN PICK . . .  _ Sam pulls out a set of shears from his inventory, handing it to Tommy with a nod far too serious for the situation.  _ RETURN BACK TO ME WHEN YOU ARE DONE . . . I WILL BE WAITING . . . _

Tommy nods back with just as much solmenness as Sam, and Puffy can basically see the cogs in his head turning as he figures out a game-plan for Sam’s request. After a second or two of deliberation, his gaze turns steely, nodding curtly again. “Will do, Sammy! C’mon, Puffybelle. This is gonna be the best fucking decorated hotel anyone’s ever seen.”

. . .

The oak leaves are, admittedly, the easiest part of their task. Tommy works until his shears break, leaving him with nearly four full stacks, far more than Sam had asked for. She reflects for a second on what Tommy might have once done. He could’ve very well asked for her to do it for him, while he went out and fucked around with something else, or coerced someone else into his schemes. He didn’t even try to look through people’s chests, instantly beelining for the nearest untouched forest and getting to work. There was only one second where he got a devilish glint in his eyes, occurring shortly after they had passed by one of Ponk’s trees, and he jokingly asked if Puffy thought Ponk would be mad if they took the leaves from it. Puffy calmly responded that no, Ponk probably wouldn’t get mad, but he probably would be very sad at the loss of another one of his lemon trees. Tommy looked at her for a second, then nodded, continuing on his way without further argument. 

Finding flowers prove to be a more difficult task. There are some around the SMP area, but most have been trampled by wayward travelers or random altercations. They’re able to gather a few poppies and the occasional dandelion, but it’s clear by the look on Tommy’s face that that isn’t enough.

“Don’t Puffy and Niki own a flower shop?” he asks, turning to Puffy with a small frown of frustration. “You think they’ll mind if we take some?”

_ PROBABLY, YES . . .  _ she types instantly, face paling at the thought of Tommy raiding their shop from top to bottom.  _ HOWEVER, THEY WILL BE THANKFUL IF WE BOUGHT SOME INSTEAD . . . DO YOU HAVE ANY DIAMONDS . . . ? _

Tommy’s frown deepens, a mixture of frustration and thought gracing his features. After a second, he says, “I don’t think I do. And, well, it’s not like they’ll know it was us, right? We could just take ‘em.”

Hm. She’ll have to tread carefully here, then. Him asking her if they should before doing it is a good start, all she has to do is give a little nudge in the right direction.

_ BUT IF THEY FIND OUT, THEY’LL WANT THEM BACK . . . AND WE’LL HAVE TO REMOVE THE DECORATIONS TO RETURN THEM . . . BESIDES, STEALING WOULD NOT BE GOOD FOR YOUR HOTEL’S REPUTATION . . .  _

It takes Tommy a few seconds to mull it all over, foot tapping against the floor in thought. “I guess you’re right,” he concurs, shoulders slumping with a sigh. “Still, where are we gonna get diamonds?”

Puffy smiles.  _ I HAVE AN IDEA . . . _

. . .

It ends up being a longer quest than she expected. They go to Foolish first, who says he’ll give them diamonds for a stack of quartz blocks for his latest project. Not wanting to trek through the Nether, they hunt down Skeppy, who promises to trade the blocks for wool for a prank he’s playing on Bad. Eret has the wool they need, but wants a few iron blocks to finish their beacons. Ranboo says he’ll give them a stack of iron as long as they get him some scaffolding. Tubbo tells them he’ll be glad to give them a stack or two if they help him clear up some ice around Snowchester. Puffy expects Tommy to complain, maybe even tell Tubbo to do it himself, but he doesn’t. She watches as him and Tubbo spend about half an hour clearing up the beaches of Snowchester, bringing them the occasional snacks and supplies when they ask for it. When they finish, Tubbo thanks them with a smile, handing over the promised supplies before wishing them off. 

It’s easy from there. Tommy doesn’t complain as they go from person to person, either, though he does still keep up the vulgarity and humour, which Puffy is thankful for. She doesn’t want the boy to change everything about himself because other people deem him annoying. She honestly doesn’t know what she’d do if Tommy came up to her and acted anything but like his aggressive self. As vulgar as he may be, she can see the genuine appreciation and gratitude in his eyes, and she knows that the others can, too. 

“Fina-fucking-lly!” Tommy cheers after Foolish hands him the promised diamonds, waving a short goodbye before running off towards his own task. Tommy doesn’t seem to notice, turning to Puffy with an excited glimmer in his eyes. “Feels like we’ve wandered through the entire fucking server for these! Let’s fucking go!”

They end up getting a stack of every flower stocked, and then some. Tommy dutifully leaves all the diamonds in the chest, not even momentarily contemplating keeping some for himself as he gathers the flowers in his arms. Puffy offers to take some, but he shakes his head, readjusting the bouquet in his arms. 

“I’m a big man, I can handle a few flowers!” he huffs as they exit the shop. It only takes two minutes before Puffy has half of the stacks in her arms, which, in Tommy’s defense, is a minute longer than she thought he’d last. 

“I typically hate fetch quests, but this was actually kind of fun! I didn’t even know Eret had so much fucking wool. What’s he need that all for, anyway? Wool’s such a  _ boring  _ block. He should be hoarding something better. Like cobble. Best damn material we got, in my opinion. Overly underrated.” 

Tommy’s train of thought, in Puffy’s opinion, is the most interesting thing she’s ever witnessed. It seems to surprise even himself at times, as she’s caught him stopping himself on multiple occasions only to verbally question where those thoughts came from. It’s endearing, in a lot of ways, and reminds Puffy so much of her younger self that it almost hurts. Maybe once this is all over, she’ll see if Tommy would ever be interested in joining her on a journey. As much as she loves the people here, the thrall of the sea has yet to leave her heart. She doubts it ever will. And she’s certain some distance, even for a little bit, would be immensely healthy for the boy’s mental state. It can’t be good for the ghosts of the past to keep haunting him in such a way, both metaphorically and literally. 

“Ey, Puffybelle?” Puffy’s head shoots up, ears perking at her name. “D’ya think I’m annoying? Not that I care about what other people think of me, course, but I was talking to Sapnap, and George mentioned something about it. Which honestly was a real dick move on his end, because it wasn’t even  _ my  _ fault he woke up, he was just being a little bitch about it.”

Oh. 

Puffy is gonna  _ kill  _ George the next time she sees him. 

_ NO . . . YOU’RE NOT ANNOYING, TOMMY . . . IN FACT, SAM NOOK AND I THINK YOU ARE VERY COOL . . . VERY POG, EVEN . . .  _

“Damn fucking right I am,” Tommy mutters to himself, nodding. If Puffy notices the way his shoulders slump in relief, or the soft, comforting smile that spreads across his face, well, that’s not something she needs to share. 

. . .

“Sam Nook! Here’s the shit you asked for!” Tommy all but runs up next to Sam, dumping all the items in his arms down on the path, hands practically shaking. “Are these enough?”

Puffy sets down her own stacks next to Tommy’s. She doesn’t need to see Sam’s face to know that he’s beaming with pride. Sam pretends to inspect the pile in front of them before nodding, gesturing Tommy to come closer. He does, hesitantly, to which Sam chuckles, one hand coming up to softly ruffle the boy’s hair. The shorter yelps, hands instantly flying up to stroke his hair back down, but he’s laughing, cursing Sam under his breath in a way Puffy knows he doesn’t mean. 

_ YES, THANK YOU, TOMMY INNIT . . . I AM PROUD OF YOUR WORK TODAY . . . THOUGH IT TOOK YOU QUITE A WHILE . . . WAS THERE A HANG-UP . . . ? _

“Oh, so  _ fucking  _ many! The leaves were easy enough to gather, but we wanted to buy the flowers from Niki and Puffy’s place, but we didn’t have any diamonds! So we asked Foolish, and he told us he would trade some if we gave him quartz. We didn’t have any, so we had to go to Skeppy, and . . .”

As Tommy recounts their adventure, Puffy meets Sam’s eyes through the mask, smiling thankfully. She’d lay her life down for this child, and as Sam’s gaze meets hers, she knows he would, too. 

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudoses are highly appreciated!! i'm still taking suggestions, so if you have anything you'd like me to write, just drop a comment ^^
> 
> follow me on my tumblr @apollos-boyfriend i promise i’m funny


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